Dunlop Supercars tyre supply deal safe after company sale

American company Goodyear has sold Dunlop, the tyre supplier to Supercars for over 20 years, to Sumitomo. 

Evidently, the sale will have no impact on Dunlop’s deal to supply Supercars with control tyres. Sumitomo has long produced them in Japan anyway.

Sumitomo will buy the Dunlop trademark and other rights for passenger car tyres in Europe, North American and Oceania.

The sale, worth approximately $US700m, should be official by June.

Ownership of the Dunlop brand has been fragmented for decades. Sumitomo, Goodyear, and Continental all hold rights to the brand’s tyres in various regions.

Originally a British company, Dunlop’s European and American entities were initially split in the 1980s. Sumitomo took on the former and Goodyear acquired the latter.

The two companies entered a JV in 1999, whereby Goodyear owned the rights to the Dunlop brand in Australia. Meantime, Sumitomo made the car racing tyres used in Australia on Goodyear’s behalf.

Satoru Yamamoto, president and CEO of Sumitomo Rubber Industries, said “Going forward, we will maximise the potential of the Dunlop brand, not only in the new regions where we have acquired rights, but also in existing regions…”

Goodyear has been looking to sell off its share of the Dunlop brand for some time. This included its Australian operations, amid a global business transformation. The Australian arm had endured challenges from cheap Chinese imports in recent years, slashing hundreds of jobs and closing the Beaurepaires brand and its stores across the country.

Supercars recently renewed its deal with Dunlop to continue supplying the category’s control tyre until the end of 2027.

Part of that deal will see the introduction of a new Soft tyre for the 2025 season. This will ensure a shake-up of race and weekend formats, leading to a new Finals championship structure.

The 2027 season will mark Dunlop’s 25th anniversary as Supercars’ control tyre supplier, having taken over from Bridgestone just after the turn of the millennium. Dunlop has also had the naming rights for Supercars’ second-tier series since 2012, and is the sponsor of Supercars’ annual Teams Championship.